The man who drove an SUV onto a Kiwanis Trail bridge Oct. 20 faces sentencing Dec. 17 in Lenawee County District Court for first-offense driving while intoxicated.

Christopher Steven Carr, 31, of Adrian, pleaded guilty to the charge in district court Nov. 21.

Adrian police were called to the bridge on the Kiwanis Trail between West Maple Avenue and Race Street at 9:39 p.m. Oct. 20. They found an unoccupied SUV partially hanging off the bridge with one piece of wood from the bridge through the windshield and a second piece through the front of the vehicle, according to the police report.

The bridge, which was closed after the crash, was being reopened Tuesday.

About 10 minutes before they knew about the crash, police had stopped Carr in the 1000 block of North Main Street, where he was walking. Carr smelled of intoxicants at the time, the report said. Police released Carr when he said he would call a friend to pick him up.

After the crash was reported, police determined through the license plate that the vehicle was owned by a business and that Carr would have been driving the vehicle, according to the report.

Police again located Carr, this time in the 1100 block of North Main Street, and took him to the scene of the crash.

According to the report, Carr said the crashed vehicle was his but he did not know how it got there.

Keys which Carr had turned over to police locked and unlocked the vehicle’s doors, the report said.

Following field sobriety tests, Carr was given a preliminary breath test which showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. Subsequent tests showed Carr had blood- alcohol levels of 0.18 and 0.17.

Carr was arrested on a charge of operating while intoxicated and was lodged in the Lenawee County Jail.

Because of difficulties getting the vehicle off the bridge, a towing company from Ann Arbor had to be called, the report said. Police found a partially full liquor bottle in the car, according to the report.

Carr faces a maximum of 93 days in jail and a fine of $200 to $500, plus costs, driver’s license suspension and possible community service.

District Judge James E. Sheridan also is expected to order that Carr pay restitution.

The crash damaged the deck and railing of the bridge, causing the Adrian Department of Parks and Forestry to close the section of the Kiwanis Trail between West Maple Avenue and Race Street. The department began rebuilding the entire bridge deck and railings Nov. 25. Workers were reopening the bridge Tuesday, sooner than had been expected, parks and forestry director Justin Combs said.

The department had materials on-hand for the project, Combs said. Labor for the project cost $8,500, but had the department simply repaired the damage rather than rebuilding and widening the entire deck, the cost would have been about $1,500, he said.